What Have I done?
by Darksonickiller
Summary: When D-Structs confronts Ty and and is mate Skya late one night and a random collection of events causes D-Structs to go to far and do the unthinkable, he has come to question everything he's ever known. Taking time to think of everything that has transpired he makes the tough choice to change his ways, and to seek out redemption for his actions and for what he did to Ty.
1. Gone to far

Ty and Skya were leaning on each other, her long craning head resting on top of Ty's strong, large T-trux head. Both had their eyes closed and were smiling after a evening of… interfacing. Neither thought it was possible for two different trux to mate, but somehow they did. It had finally begun a couple moons past. Skya had sheepishly come up to Ty after a build and a very dangerous adventure where they nearly lost one another.

"Ty.." she began in a way that was completely un-Skya-like. "I… Look we both nearly died today." Ty, for once looked at her in a different light. He had been truly scared of losing Skya on one of their crazy adventures and was thinking the same as she was. They said at the same time "Life's too dangerous to stay afraid!" then they stopped and laughed nervously, then looked back at one another. Her left eye light cracked, his right eye light missing. It was at that moment that they rolled forward and kissed, that first awkward kiss.

'That was three moons ago', Ty thought feeling Skya's warm head resting on top of his own. Her eye light had long since been repaired, but his was still gone. It was much harder to find the kind of scrap needed to replace a T-trux eye than that of a far more common Craneosaurs. He had gotten used to monocular vision as he began to let his other senses guide him.

It was about the time Ty began to think about laying eggs with Skya, and he was just going to suggest that, when he heard the familiar sound of D-structs, his rival T-trux for the crater valley they lived in. He had had enough of that trux. Ty decided it was time to stop kidding around. He would rip D-structs apart or be scrapped trying.

Ty gently laid Skya's head down on a nearby rock that was roughly as tall as he was and quietly rolled away to meet his rival for their final battle. He had been working on his technique, as well as having some upgrades installed. He would return to show Skya a beaten, scrapped D-structs. He would make the crater safe for his family.

"So you heard me and came alone anyway" D-structs said in his oddly smooth, cruel voice. "I'm surprised you have the ball bearings!" he added to goad the younger T-trux.

Ty surprised D-structs by not commenting, only letting the light from his good light-eye shine ominously. Ty had no play left in him; he was all business now. He realized that his mistake was that all those moons ago he had had no real reason to fight this T-trux. Even all the previous fights beside his team and Skya were to protect a place, friends… now he was fighting for his future family, and his body began to flow with new, more violent, murderous energy.

D-structs felt the change in Ty and rolled a half track backwards. He was not so sure he could keep Ty distracted long enough for his cronies to trap Skya. It was supposed to be a normal thing, kidnap her, play with Ty's head a little and try to get him to leave. But this… this would be different, and for the first time in many moons the older T-trux was anxious for battle.

The air between the two male trux approached absolute zero.

Both knew this was a fight to the death. Only one T-trux was rolling away tonight. As it should be... each felt it was him.

The battle began without preamble or banter. Ty rolled forward as fast as he could, roaring, his tiny arms reaching forward expecting to grab his opponent bodily.

D-structs easily dodged the forward attack, except that's what Ty wanted, he spun and slammed his wrecking ball into D-structs face, and the battle was on.

Not far away, Skya was blinking her eyes open, missing Ty's warmth beneath her head."Ty?" she said quietly, still groggy from a nearly complete shutdown of sleep. She was surprised how comfortable and safe she felt around Ty… even more than ever before. But before she could comprehend what was going on, she heard Blayde's soft, commanding voice. "Don't bother trying to move craneosaur. That's extra thick shockarachnid webbing around you… you're stuck".

Skya tried to move her foot tracks, but to no luck: the magnetic shockarachnid web was completely restricting her movement. Then she felt someone pushing her from behind. They were taking her somewhere. She tried to roll her tracks backwards, but she wasn't strong enough. She heard the cruel laugh of Splitter and felt him pushing her forward.

"Don't bother yelling for Ty" Blayde said again, her words dripping with cruelty. "We're going to take you to him… to watch his end." It was then that Skya heard the combat between the two rival T-trux and, once she was within sight of the battle, what she saw horrified her. Ty had murder in his eye. He had already managed to rip off one of D-structs arms and held it in his gigantic mouth, seemingly to chew on it as he pondered what to do next to the older, crafty T-trux.

"About time you got here!" D-structs said in annoyance. "A little longer and I might have been in real trouble!" he gestured with his remaining arm. "Ty has gone completely insane, even for him. So I suggest we… put him down." D-structs said with cold, malevolent finality. The now quartet chuckled with cruel glee.

Skya felt something being placed in the web around her then *SLAM, WHAM, THUNK!* She could hear a terrible noise and she found herself completely unable to move as Pounder had driven large metal spikes into the ground, preventing her from moving. They wanted her to watch Ty's defeat.

"TY!" Skya screamed, causing him to snap out of his murderous reverie for a moment. "TY GET OUT OF HERE!" she yelled at him "The valley NEEDS YOU! RUN!" she yelled as loud as she could, but Ty only shook his head.

"No!" He rumbled. "I'll kill D-structs… then I'll scrap the rest of you!" he said, looking at Blayde and the others, causing them to roll back. They didn't want to lose limbs themselves… but they knew that they would be able to win in the end... They hoped.

'What a strange thing for him to say.' Blayde thought to herself. 'Normally he's completely ok with running…' she paused in thought and then looked over at Skya and it began to make sense to her. But a moment was all she had to ponder this.

The violence began less than a moment later as D-structs spun and sent his tail claw, clenched into a tight ball, flying at Ty's face. Ty dodged and was about to take a bite out of the tail ball when he felt the three horns of Blayde slam into and across his back as she drove by, creating a shower of sparks to fly and light the ground igniting some nearby brushes, adding an eerie backlight to the program.

Next it was Pounder's turn to slam his mighty pilon into Ty's tail, embedding it into the ground, just missing Blayde as he did so. Ty pulled as hard as he could but couldn't get free.

The cruel quartet paused for a moment, watching Ty struggle to free his tail, laughing at him. "Give up and le..." D-structs began his usual 'give up and leave' speech, but Ty just roared at him louder and with more ferocity than any of them had heard before.

"NEVER!" Ty yelled. "I'll never give in to you! I've never surrendered before, I won't start now! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU COWARDS UNTIL YOU'RE JUST…" *CRUNCH* D-structs had had enough of Ty, the buildings, the lot. He swung his tail harder and faster than he'd ever done before and it landed straight on Ty's mouth and crushed it, sending D-structs detached arm flying.

D-structs then rolled forward and grabbed with his remaining hand one of the hydraulics that held Ty's mouth together and ripped it free sending fluid shooting everywhere… first fluid had been shed, and it wasn't going to stop there. D-structs then leaned in and grabbed Ty's half limp, crushed jaw in what looked like a bizarre kiss and ripped it from Ty's head, throwing it a dozen feet away.

Skya could only watch in horror as her … her mate had his jaw smashed then ripped off. Part of her mind was sure Revvit could fix him… she hoped. She knew if only she could get into the battle she could still save Ty, get him back to the garage. She knew in her heart Revvit could save him! Revvit could fix anything wrong on Ty!

Skya knew she had to escape. She saw what she need to get out of the webbing not far away. Then it'd be an easy task to save Ty and run away!

"Ty" D-structs began in what sounded calm and reasonable voice. His own hydraulic fluid leaking from where his left arm had been. "This is hardly a fair battle…" He continued with cruel intent. "Splitter… help poor Ty out." and Splitter spun-up his giant saw blade and with the help of Blayde began to saw into Ty's tail, inches from his main chassis.

Ty screamed in incoherent pain, with no jaw to help form words, as his tail was severed from his body. He fell forward without the counterbalance onto his ruined face. D-structs then grabbed Ty's head, his thumb claw in Ty's missing eye socket and dragged him back up onto his tracks.

"Come now Ty" D-structs began a mixture of controlled anger and relieved victory, "weren't you going to…" He paused then laughed out of relief, "Kill us all?" The victorious, vicious older trux taunted, growling. He then backed up quickly allowing Pounder to speed in, head turned and raising upwards rapidly to slam hard into the underside of Ty's jawless head. The helpless T-trux flew two dozen feet straight up.

D-structs then swung his tail at Ty's feet, causing Ty to turn in mid air, his chest now parallel to the ground. At that moment Splitter raced underneath Ty, his only eye wide as he saw the ground, and the massive spinning, diamond coated blade that had cut off his tail, slammed into his chest. Ty's had much thicker metal on his chest than his tail, but that wouldn't mean much as Ty felt D-structs's jaw clamp onto his left side while Pounder lifted himself up so he could lean on Ty's right side, pushing him harder into the spinning blade.

Blayde had seen enough. She enjoyed bullying and beating down lesser trux, yes. But she had no desire to torture or murder them. She turned away from the needlessly cruel scene towards Skya. The poor craneosaur was in a world of disbelief as she was being forced to watch her boyfriend being torn to shreds. Blayde may have been a cruel female, but female she still was. It had been too late when she realized the two were mated.

It may have disgusted her on a fundamental level… but she had no desire to kill another's mate. She had already had that happen to her long ago.

She disabled the webbing around the paralyzed trux and left before she could witness the murder of Ty. Skya didn't notice when the web was loosened or the murmur of apology "I... I didn't think it would go this far." Blayde disliked Ty, maybe even hated him, but she respected him as an opponent who used his head more than his motor.

D-structs saw Blayde's actions and paused. He looked over to Pounder and saw the same expression in his face… this had gone on too far. They only meant to hurt, scare, taunt Ty into leaving the valley, not to kill him. They both let go of the tortured trux at the same time, expecting him to be thrown far away because of the speed of the blade.. But he didn't.

Splitter had his own way of balancing Ty on top of his blade, but Ty's natural size and weight kept him on the spinning blade of death which was already in a good way into Ty's thick chest plating.

"That's enough Splitter, let Ty go." D-structs commanded. He didn't expect that Splitter would disobey him.

"No!" Splitter said defiantly. "NO! His oils will bathe me" He then made a disturbing giggle. 'He's enjoying this', the others realized.

"The oils, they bathe me, the liquids of the insides keep me." Splitter explained, then paused for another one of those insane giggles of his "They keep me strong and healthy and they feel SO GOOD!" he finished with a lustful growl. It was only then that D-structs finally understood the trux he had aligned himself with was an insane psychopath!

"When I was just a little trux I had my first taste of the fluids!" Splitter continued, almost humming to himself as he wiggled and balanced Ty's screaming form on top of his blade. "I sped under a craneosaur." He began to feel the end of Ty's chest plating as ecstasy began to overcome him in anticipation of Ty's chest fluids. "I CUT IT OPEN! And it's guts covered me!" he continued about his first kill. "They were so warm and squishy and wet! All kinds of fluids misted over and bathed me... It was GLORIOUS!" he then giggled into what became an insane cackle.

D-structs had heard more than he wanted to and slammed his nose into the underside of Ty, sending him flying off the blade, but not before it pierced his chest piece, slicing through several vital hoses and other important things, his bodily fluids spraying through the cut in his chest piece.

Ty screams took on a gurgling quality of pain then went silent as he hit the ground. All the while Skya could only watch in horror, shaking her head, telling herself over and over that Revvit could fix it, he had to!

Ty had landed on his face, various mechanical fluids leaking onto the ground, mixing with the dirt to create a mud of viscera.

Skya was stunned. She didn't notice D-structs slamming into Splitter… but she did hear, and would remember for all time Splitter's insane screams and giggles of ecstasy at Ty's suffering.

"Skrap-it" D-structs said quietly, noticing that Skya was still out of it, even though she'd been freed. "I need a new arm…" D-structs said to his personal semi-faithful tool. Skrap-it twitched and nodded. D-structs didn't want to wait around to see what Skya's reaction would be, seeing the little tool working on her now, very scrapped… 'friend?' D-structs wasn't sure what they were to one another, and he didn't care. He was tired, damaged and sick from the murder. Right now he just wanted to return to his cave, have his arm repaired, and sleep until the nightmares stopped. This wasn't his first scrapping, and he expected the nightmares. They were almost old friends by now.

She never heard D-Structs apology and promise to leave the garage alone. She didn't hear Pounder's pile driver slamming into Splitter as the insane trux drove off, chased by the poundersaurolophus.

It took her several minutes to realize the Trux she loved more than anything else in the world was in a pile of parts, fluids and scrap.

"TY!" she screamed, rolling forward, frantic. "Ty, don't worry, we'll get you home and fixed up! You'll be ok. YOU HAVE TO BE OK, TY!"

Seeing Skrap-it dancing around, running towards Ty's motionless body exclaiming how 'he finally had his very own scrap trux to play with' lit a raging fire of anger and hatred in Skya. She quickly rolled and hopped up into the air and landed on the tiny scraptool, popping it like a metal zit, before completely flattening him. He never felt it, but somehow it gave her supreme satisfaction.

Skya thought she heard Ty moan and her heart soared. He was alive!

Ignoring Blayde who was hovering nearby, Skya rushed over and gently rolled Ty onto his back. Most of his engine was still inside of him, she thought. His chest cavity filled with liquid moments after she placed him on his back though, worrying her.

"Sky… uuhh" Ty managed to whisper. "Ah… uuvvv oooo"

"I love you too! Ty, please stay with me!" she said, tears streaming from her eyes, and she zoomed here and there around the area, gathering as many of his parts as she could find. She had to leave his tail for now. His jaw and chest were what was important. She then looped her tongue around his chassis and pulled as she drove towards the garage in the center of the crater.

Suddenly she regretted their secret meetings being as far from the garage as they could safely go. They were still yet to tell the others of their mating. That they took each other as theirs until rust caused them to cease.

"Alk oo mee Aye!" she tried to say as she dragged her delirious lover. "Talk to me Ty".

"Remember when we first met?" she heard Ty babble. 'You didn't think it was possible for two different trux to get along and help one another, let alone live together.'

"Yeah, I do" Skya smiled a little among tears. That first time she was curious beyond what was safe in this world. But he and that little tool seemed to get along as real friends, she had to see what he had in mind.

'Heh, you were so funny, so sure this couldn't work, but you were willing to try… I've always loved that about you Skya' He continued'

"Yeah" she said, tears running down her cheeks. She could see the beacon in the night. They were getting there, closer, closer. She blew her horn as loud as she could to wake the others up, then went silent and resumed talking to Ty.

"I always found you and Revvit a strange pair. You, so HUGE, him ... so small but brilliant. Don't worry, he'll fix you up just right!" she said then listened to Ty continue.

'I loved truxing it up with you and the others so much all these moons. Now I'm all truxed up' he said and gave a gurgling laugh.

"Yeah, I love truxing with you Ty" she could see the others rushing out towards them. "We made it Ty, you'll be ok!"

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO TY?!" Dozer demanded, horrified at Ty's condition. Skya released her tongue and looked around for Revvit, who was already running towards them along with Click-Clack, Ace and Waldo. They were just as shocked as the trux were at Ty's injuries.

"There's no fixing that…" Waldo whispered seeing the huge gash in Ty's chest plate as he ran toward him as fast as his legs would take him. He knew from his experience that this wasn't going to end well.

"Shush! Don't talk like that! Revvit scolded him. "This is Ty and we have to try!" The reptool said not wanting to admit Waldo was most likely right.

"Where's Revvit?" she asked frantically. A moment later she saw the reptool and the others approaching as fast as they could. WIth a grateful sigh of relief she thought 'Ty will be alright!' then said "You can fix him, Revvit, can't you? You can fix anything! You are all so…" then she stopped. The expression in all the others' faces was of loss and mourning. The other reptools began crawling over Ty's body, forcing themselves to be detached… this was just another trux who was badly injured. They told themselves in one way or another.

They looked wide eyed at the massive cut that ran almost the entire length of Ty's chest as it leaked fluids from the served tubes and hoses inside. It was easily wide enough for a reptool to pass through it if they pleased. It was hard to look at and the tools could only imagine how much that had hurt.

Almost fifteen minutes passed. The only noise were the reptools running all over, around in and out of Ty. Their gears spinning as Revvit and Click-Clack tightened or adjusted bolts and screws here and there. "He's gone isn't he?" Click-Clack said very quietly to Ace as they tried to fix a pipe to the engine.

Ace only nodded before shushing Click-Clack. "It's not our place to say that.. It's" she started but stopped. She knew what Ty meant to everyone, especially Revvit. He was the de-facto leader of the Reptools and this wasn't something any tool should say".

"This just ain't right." Waldo said from inside Ty as he just stood in a growing puddle of fluids staring at unbelievable amount of damage to Ty's internal structure and parts. Nothing inside Ty moved. The conveyors and gears were motionless and his engine was silent and cold. It was quite the eerie sight and feeling. "What kinda monster would do this to another trux."

Finally the reptools couldn't hold back any longer. They knew it before they examined Ty. They worked on dead trux before to perfect their skills. But this. When that dead trux is your best friend... Revvit banished everything out of his mind. He was a professional and he had a job to do. "Skya…" Revvit began quietly. "Ty's… gone."

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Skya screamed. She began to look insane with grief until Revvit climbed up her body and her long neck to her face and looked directly into one of her eyes.

"Skya… he's been gone for hours." Revvit said, the enormity of what had happened was beginning to hit him. His best friend … was gone, forever.

Skya slowly shook her head. "But we were only thirty tiks… at the overlook."Skya said weakly. Looking around at the gathering mass. Trux comforting one another as they saw the battered, rent opened body of their beloved leader on the ground. She was in disbelief that their meeting place was so far away that Ty couldn't survive his wounds.

"Skya that place is half a day away if you were dragging Ty the entire way." Revvit countered.

"But… but it was dark when we left.. He was talking to me minutes before I... well... I…" Skya tried to counter, slowly breaking down as reality began to set in. It wasn't twilight around her, it was dawn. A new day was beginning. A day without Ty. One of many for the rest of her life.

"Ty please you gotta wake up!" Skya said rolling forward and nudging Ty with her long neck hoping beyond hope itself to get a response from her lover. She never got a response to her pleas and nudges but that didn't stop her from trying over and over again all the while her friends watched her with sad faces. It hurt them to watch this. "Ty please no!" She wailed again.

"Skya." Ton-Ton said as he rolled toward the craneosuar "He's gone. There is nothing we can do now." Ton-Ton told her the sadness clearly evident in his voice.

There was then a gasp and revving of engines in anger as a enemy showed up, pushing a great many parts causing them to take up a defensive posture around Ty.

"Skya…" Blayde said, Everyone was watching her, most with contempt. Dozer had a strange look on his face. In her dozer blade were assorted parts, including Ty's severed tail that Skya had left behind. "Skya… I've been quietly following you for … the better part of the night. You've been rambling to yourself." She paused and indicated Ty's cold chassis with her horns. "Who have you been talking to this entire time?"

Skya then began wailing and moved to be beside Ty. She fell to the ground and curled up to his cold steel corpse. She did not stop crying until the sun was high in the sky. As the other Trux slowly went to their daily positions, knowing that mourning or not, the crater would not take care of itself, Revvit stayed with Skya.

"Skya" Revvit said quietly into her ear. "We need to move Ty to a safer place. Otherwise he... " He stopped as he felt his own tears finally overcoming his professional demeanor. His best friend was dead, and he was talking as if this was just another Trux. This was TY!

Click-Clack came up beside Revvit and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. Revvit broke down an embraced his long time friend and cousin. "OH MY GOD TY'S DEAD!" the small reptool screamed and began weeping into his friend's arms.

Later in the day Blayde approached Skya. "Look" she began and Skya only looked up from her place on the ground next to the body of Ty. Suddenly Blayde couldn't be harsh on this one. She wasn't just mourning a friend. As she had deduced before, she was mourning a lover.

"How long?" Blayde asked instead as gently as she could.

"M-m-moons" was all Skya could say before devolving into tears and incomprehensible weeping.

"What do you mean how long?" Revvit asked, managing to pull himself together and face the once enemy that talked to Skya. He was ready to dive inside her and literally tear her apart from the inside out. The bits along his back beginning to quiver in defensive anger of his friend.

"They were mated." Blayde said plainly, noting Skya and Ty. "I was asking how long they had been keeping it a secret." Revvit's jaw nearly fell off. He looked at Ty then quickly at Skya and it began to make sense. He and Click-Clack were always with their Trux. But lately... The last some moons this had been different. Both Skya and Ty had been disappearing for hours on end.

"Bet the wrench, um.. Ace? knew." Blayde said. "Females understand these things." She said as Ace ambled over.

"What did I know?" she asked.

"About Ty and Skya" Blayde said.

"Oh yeah, moons." Ace said plainly. "But I thought it's be an invasion of their privacy to tell anyone, yes even you Revvit." She finished looking at the reptool who appeared to want to protest but thought better of it. And that was that. Word spread faster than wildfire across the crater city that Ty and Skya had been mated and then the story of how he came to be murdered.

Finally Skya and the others dragged Ty's body into the garage with Blayde's help. Blayde still didn't care for the builders, but something tugged at her that forced her to stay a little longer. She had long since lost all of her sycophants, and she admitted it was nice to speak with Dozer again as friends.

Soon though the pain of losing her lover became to much to bear. Not being able to look at Ty's body anymore because of the pain it caused her she retreated into Ty's old cave where she had spent many nights with the T-trux. She refused to leave, drink or eat ore. Her depression was threatening to reunite her and Ty sooner than anyone around wanted. She simply laid on the ground in the cave and wallowed in her own depression. Her friends became more and more worried for her as the days went by. They would each come to visit her and talk to her, trying to help her. They also tried to piece together what actually happened that dreadful night since she had yet to tell them what she witnessed. They were shocked when Blayde finally told them everything they wanted to know.

No matter what Skya refused to eat or drink. Her stomach hurt, she assumed it was the hunger.

Blayde didn't know what compelled her to do it but she decided to try and help Skya. Seeing how hard she was taking Ty's death and how it caused her condition to deteriorate was worrying her friends. "Skya…." Blayde said uneasily as she slowly rolled into the cave and dropped some ore next to the growing pile her friends had made. She half expected Skya to snap at her and she was right.

"What the hell do you want?" Skya snorted at her not even giving her the courtesy of looking at her. Pain and sadness saturated her voice. "Why are you even still here?"

"Look I can't change what happen or what I did even though I honestly wish that I could." Blayde said with a twinge of guilt in her voice. "No one deserves to lose their mate trust me I know first hand. But you can't do this to yourself. Do you honestly think this is what that T-trux would have wanted?"

"How the hell would you know what it's like to lose a lover?" Skya said with venom and sadness in her voice as she finally picked her head off the ground and turned to look at the dozeratops. She was fuming with anger that Blayde would even claim she knew how she was feeling. Her look caused Blayde to roll back slightly. "If you hadn't tied me up I could have saved him!" Skya yelled at her.

"Because I lost my mate too Skya." Blayde said. "His name was Razor and I fell in love with him and we went on a date just like you and Ty did out by the cliffs but another dozeceratops followed us. He was jealous of Razor and threw him off the cliff right in front of me. My anger got the better of me and I threw him of the cliff like he did Razor." Blayde told the craneosaur as she remembered the past. "I never really got over that and that's why I turned out the way I am now." Blayde said sadly.

"I-I had no idea that happened to you Blayde." Skya said as her expression softened a bit. "I'm sorry about that but that doesn't make what you did to Ty and I right." Skya told her somewhat sympathetically.

"Yes I know I prevented you from saving the T-trux and I'm truly sorry for that ." Blayde said doing her best to sound honest because for once she was being honest. "I'm not asking you to forgive me. I wouldn't forgive me either I am asking you to let your friends help you through this. Your mate would want you to to carry on." Blayde told her while looking her right in the eyes and throwing her some ore with her tail claw. "Now eat something ok?"

Skya was silent as she processed everything Blayde was telling her. It all kinda made sense to her. If Ty saw her now he would be disappointed in her for rejecting her friends help. It was foolish of her now that she thought about it and it ashamed her that it took one of their enemies to get through to her. She looked at the ore Blayde threw to her for several moments before finally taking a bite.

"I'll try." Was all Skya told her before she turned away from Blayde effectively ending the conversation. Not having anything else to say to the grieving craneosaur. Blayde rolled out of the cave and left her alone.

Later that day Revvit was checking on Skya and looking over her when he noticed something odd and went to Ace to consult.

"Skya." Revvit said gently into Skya's ear. "You have eggs manufacturing." Skya's eyes slowly began to focus. "You need to start processing ore soon or you won't be able to finish making your and Ty's eggs." He finished. It was all that he needed to say to bring Skya back to the world of the living. After three days of gorging herself on ore, Skya was feeling a little better and was up for returning to living, if only for her children.

When Revvit suggested to Skya that they make a type of mausoleum for Ty's body and she grudgingly agreed Blayde even volunteered to help with dozing duty. That and his corpse was scaring other trux away from the garage.

The memorial to Ty was completed quickly in mournful silence. Only the revving of engines and movement of stones was heard. Revvit's plans were followed exactly with no intercommunication needed… or wanted.

Finally, when it was done Blayde asked the only logical question. "What now?"

The trux all deferred to Skya who had taken to having Revvit on her like he had ridden on Ty all that time. It had taken some days but Skya was back as they knew her and there was steel in her voice whenever she spoke. However before anyone could respond Revvit spoke first.

"First" he began "We build a place for Skya's eggs to warm and hatch safely." The silence was as strong as when he had declared Ty dead, but this time, instead of dread and sadness, it was unrecognized hope and joy.

"What" Blayde asked.

"Do you mean?" Dozer finished for her.

"Woah cool" Ton-Ton and George said. The other trux in the village all began to give their congratulations to Skya when she beckoned for silence.

"What do we do after my… our eggs are secured Revvit?" Skya asked, trying to contain her own adulation that somehow her and Ty's one night of coupling had produced offspring.

Revvit looked deep in thought. "There really is only one thing we can do… isn't there Blayde?" Revvit said, looking at the alpha female dozer. She grinned in a way that made several trux nearby back away. Then she nodded back at Revvit to explain.

"Revenge" Revvit said plainly.

There were murmurs of assent from around the group along with some that were unsure.

"I'm ok with revenge lil dude." Ton-ton said with an uncharacteristic amount of seriousness in his voice. He was angry and only the released fluids of another trux would quell his anger this time.

To everyone's surprise George nodded. "Sometimes you need to stand against the waves so that you can enjoy the peaceful waters beyond." he said in his calm, serene way, but with a glint of burning hot anger just behind his eyes.

"Ty wanted to protect his herd… we are his herd. We have been for a long time now. Dozer said. "And his children are going to be born into a world where we don't have to worry about T-trux like D-structs destroying their home!" He continued with anger building, not just within him, but all trux around him including a couple of the 'lesser' T-trux that had come to live under Ty's peaceful guidance and teamwork.

"It won't be easy" Blayde said, knowing someone had to warn the builders of what they were facing. "If you attack D-structs will retaliate with everything at his disposal… and you builders have made a lot of trux mad with your cooperations!" She said, knowing she meant herself. She wondered if she was going to be considered a builder herself soon… and if that would be such a bad thing.

"I say bring it!" Skya said. There was no mercy in her tone. "We are stronger as a group and we are a large group!" she continued. "We will not let this pass" And there was a murmur of ascent in the crowd. "We will not lay down any more and let our loved ones be harrassed by bullies!" And the murmur of ascent became a shout "YEAH!"

"We will not let Ty's death be for nothing!" She yelled over the growing cacophony of agreement for war. "WE WILL FIGHT!" and there was a roar of agrheement from all the trux in the crater. "AND. WE. WILL. WIN!"

"YES!" they roared back.

It was decided. There would be war. Ty's death sparked the anger that had been simmering for a long time. Now, with the death of their peaceful, protective leader by such cowardice, their rage was given a point of clarity. In order to build a more prosperous future, D-structs and his group would have to surrender and join them... Or die.


	2. Recompense

Time heals all wounds, but some run much deeper than others. The builders of the crater were gearing up for war. They were beginning to build devices and contraptions that could stop, maim, or potentially even kill another trux. At the very least they would be able to defend against the damned dreadtrux. It was busy work to keep their minds focused while trying not to deal with Ty's death.

Many trux that were enthusiastic about going to war and building machines of, ironically, destruction began to taper off as time passed. They all in their own way began to mourn and come to terms with the future, and they were not sure if war was what Ty would have actually wanted.

The volunteers available slowly lessened as they went about other necessary duties and tasks needed for life to be smooth in the crater. After a complete moon had passed there were only a dozen or so trux who were still interested in war. The crater had been unusually quiet, save for the occasional scrapter raids which were normal.

The requested builds became slowly more peaceful, as more tools came to live in the crater. The drive to kill others was a flash in the pan that the mostly peaceful builders had no real desire for once their grief had been if not resolved, understood.

Everyone handles grief in their own way, and Revvit, the main architect of most builds, would go missing at night for hours on end. One night, Ace had decided that she would discover what the once chipper and optimistic reptool was up to. She pretended to sleep when she finally heard Revvit head out. It was lunar noon, the moon was at its apex and shed the greatest light upon the land. It was a beautiful sight almost no one ever saw.

Revvit was heading into Ty's mausoleum where his body had been laid to rest in a upright position. It was a place no one ventured into very often now. Respects had been paid, oily tears shed and life moved on. When Ace entered the central chamber where Ty's body was on display she gasped. He was in amazing condition. She noticed many of the broken connections were repaired, and even his missing light-eye was replaced. Ty's jaw, however, was still crushed and sitting on the bench next to its body. Revvit was simply not strong enough on his own to do anything about it.

The massive gash in his chest was still there, but it looked as if many of his lubricant and cooling hoses were replaced. Ace was in awe how much damage the lone reptool had managed to repair… then she heard him. Revvit was crawling around inside Ty's chest cavity, cursing and attempting to replace bent and damaged parts. He was also talking to Ty. Telling him about his day, about how Skya's eggs were coming along, and the like. Ace's heart wept for her friend.

"What are you doing Revvit?" she asked, knowing the answer. It had been a theory long held, but rarely thought worth pursuing.

"I figure" Revvit said in his usual, logical way, "That if I repair his engine I can restart Ty!" He said matter of factly. "We're all just machines after all. We have parts that get damaged and…" he said beginning to lose steam, the immensity of what he was trying finally crashed down around him. "I… " he faltered. "I miss him Ace".

Ace slowly approached her friend. "I've been telling him about what's going on" Revvit explained. "At first it was just.. I dunno grief." he said as he pulled at a bolt that had been bent into an L. "Then I saw something that I could easily fix on him then another and another then…" and he stopped, oily tears forming. "Why can't I bring him back Ace?!" He wailed hugging the other reptool. "Why? I've repaired so much on him but.. But.."

"Because his spark has gone out." Waldo's gruff voice said from the darkness.

"You know that once a spark is gone.. It's forever." Click-clack said gently. They had all followed Revvit on their own accord tonight.

"You can't bring back the dead." Waldo said softly.. "They are just parts once their spark goes out."

The others then began to theorize about it, all three of their voices blending together:

"What about all his fluid loss?"

"Where does one even get that?"

"He did bleed out pretty thoroughly."

"Can those even mix?"

"What about…"

"ENOUGH!" Revvit screamed at the others, his oily tears freely running, a half crazed maniac look on his face. "I KNOW HE'S DEAD!" he shouted pointing at Ty's lifeless form with a foreclaw. "..I know Ty can't be brought back.. There are too many variables but.. I.." and he collapsed again in defeat.

Waldo paused in thought. "Perhaps we can make him look a little nicer.

In the morning the reptools abled out of Ty's mausoleum for the last time. Leaving behind a nearly spotless Ty. Only the rent in his chest remained. His tail, thanks to Blayde, was reattached, his other wounds repaired. He wasn't in a position of attack like so many T-trux were known for, but in a friendly pose, welcoming others to join him.

The next day, Skya was overseeing a construction of another ore station. she preferred the builds that didn't rely on death to be their final purpose… but the betterment of life. Their population had grown, and her eggs were still manufacturing inside her, so her need had also greatly increased. So it was decided another ore station was needed.

Ton-ton had just delivered the refuse to the dumping pit when he looked at the shape and slope of a certain building nearby. He hadn't been able to ramp for a while, and this was a new building. He looked around, revved his engine then drove straight for the building, he angled his approach, drove up the one side gaining a crazy amount of air and spin. "WOO HOO!" He shouted on instance as he flew through the air. When he landed, revved up to try it again he saw Skya, looking furious.

"Did- Did you just RAMP Ty's grave?!" Skya said furiously bringing her face right in front of Ton-Ton's and giving the anchlodump a murderous glare.

"Um maybe... Yes..." Ton-Ton said shaking a bit under Skya's intimidating visage. "Why?"

"If you EVER ramp Ty's grave again I swear I'll make you build your own grave next to it!" Skya roared, shaking with anger. "Do I make myself clear?"

"YES MA'AM!" Ton-Ton said before quickly speeding away. She then sighed, trying to let the harmful stress of the moment ebb away. She heard a small snicher from atop her head from Revvit. "What?" she asked in an unamused tone.

"Well.." Revvit began, trying to contain himself. "It WAS a pretty good jump, all things considered." Then he started laughing.

Skaya sighed in exasperation but nodded. "Yes, I suppose it was."

That evening a familiar trux rolled silently into the builders' village. They were building a kind of stone, wood, and metal community. The visitor looked around at the buildings and took a moment to be in awe of what his species could accomplish when they worked together. Trux and Reptools, vehicles of all sizes working together to create more than one could ever do alone.

When the visitor arrived at Ty's mausoleum he realized that he had been right. Ty had been right about working together for a common, positive goal. He had offered him to join the builders many times. The visitor sighed. "I guess I was wrong." he said in a low baritone.

"Thats ok dude. We all make mistakes." Ton-ton said absently as he drove past the visitor.

"Thank you.. Um… ton-ton?" The trux said.

"No problem D-dude." Ton-ton said as he rounded a corner. He then stopped and reversed. "D-dude?" he asked as he backed around the corner to look at the larger T-trux.

"Yes ton-ton?" D-structs asked bemusedly.

"Y-y-you're like.. HERE" Ton-ton observed, fear beginning to grip his engine.

"Yes I suppose I am" D-structs said, looking back at the larger than life statue of Ty, that stood atop the mausoleum. "Funny that." D-structs said smiling. He had always had great skill in stealth. It was one of his less violent, but still perverse pleasures. He loved to sneak up behind prey and roar scaring them away. Tonight, however he was here to pay his respects, and to end the war before it could truly take effect.

"Would you be a dear, and go get Skya for me?" He asked in a reasonable tone to the increasingly scared trux. "Oh.. and ask her to bring that amazing reptool… Revvit isn't it?" he added. He had been infiltrating the village every week since that unfortunate night. He saw their war preparations but they never noticed him, so great was his skill. But he daren't show himself until the bloodlust had subsided some.

Enough time had passed that he felt it safe enough to come into their village and speak terms of truce or even surrender. He had no desire to fight for the crater anymore. "I hope this finally stills your spirit Ty." D-structs said quietly to the statue after Ton-ton had sped off searching for Skya. The nightmares had been worse than anything he'd ever experienced before.

Within only a handful of minutes Skya, Revvit and several guards were surrounding D-structs, who made no effort to move. He was still looking around at the buildings and the statue of Ty. "I must commend you" D-structs said, and he slowly turned towards Skya.

He was greeted by her tail, slamming across his face. He had been expecting that. He didn't try to stop it. He only held something in his good arm. The one that Ty had ripped off still not replaced.

"May I speak, Skya?" D-structs said levelly.

Skya was filled with anger, hate and rage. All she wanted to to was to kill, rip apart and destroy this trux, much like every other trux around her. However, she was the leader of the growing village now and had to show better restraint. She knew with a word she could have D-structs torn apart by every trux in the area. But she was curious why he was present, and why now.

Seeing Skya nod, D-structs began why he was there. "First Skya… thank you for your restraint." He began. He was careful to level his tone as to be subservient, and not pompas as was his usual. "Next… I hear you're preparing for war… with me." Skya nodded again. "I would like to plea for peace." D-structs said. He then inhaled and said the next with great effort. "I, rescind my claim on the crater. I won't bother you anymore for control of it."

The crater was silent. A pin could have dropped and caused a cacophony. "What?" Skya asked in a growl. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"I … I am sorry Skya, truly so." D-structs continued quietly in contrition. "I never meant for what happened to happen." he continued a little louder. "I… respected Ty, especially in the end." He knew this was a touchy subject, but he had to let them know he was sincere. "It was… Yes, I wanted you all out of m… the crater. But I didn't want any fluids shed. I didn't know about splitter's issues." He said, almost spitting out splitter's name.

"Why should we believe you?" Revvit asked. He was also angry but curious. "Why should we take anything you say seriously, and not as a trick?" he almost demanded, trying to remain calm.

"Because" D-structs said looking at the reptool who had planned the miracles around them. "I have been infiltrating your village roughly once a week and I haven't done anything. I haven't sabotaged your ore station, the washes, the weapons…" he said, with a little anger accented on the word weapons. "Even tonight I didn't have to be seen by Ton-ton. But I did, and I was."

"Terms?" Revvit asked, not daring to believe that he was being allowed to continue.

"Total" D-structs said without hesitation. "I forsake my claim on the crater… forever." he stated. And there was a collective gasp. "On one condition." and the area got cold again as D-Structs looked up with anger in his own eyes. "I would have you know that despite how maddeningly annoying he was…" and he paused, holding back as much emotion as he could. "I liked Skrap-it. He was loyal and differential to me. I… enjoyed his company." he admitted, sadness coming through. "He deserved more than to be popped like a zit!" He said with sadness, anger and rage brightening and coloring his light-eyes a bloody red, shocking everyone around him, causing some to roll back a pace.

"AND TY DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE CUT OPEN LIKE A GEODE!" many around D-Structs shouted, and many thought loudly. Just as quickly the crater fell into a tense quiet. The calm before violence.

"What is the condition?" Skya asked, biting back her angry retort, willing herself to keep the situation from escalating further.

D-Structs looked up at them, holding out his damaged arm. "Could you give a fellow trux a hand?"

The laughter could be heard for miles.

A few days later D-Structs was trying out his arm. The reptools had even added an extension function where he could shoot out his hand a little ways, while still attached with a very thick cable, then retract back into place so that he could retrieve ore in hard to get to places.

"I must admit" D-Structs said admiring his new hand, opening and closing it, "You do amazing work Revvit." with genuine appreciation in his voice, a rarity he realized. He hardly ever gave genuine praise, and seeing how it made the hateful reptool warm up to him, decided he may need to rethink how he interacted with other trux.

"I figure that you may have less need to be… um…" Revvit paused. He wanted to say 'such an asshole and bully' but went with "aggressive and needlessly destructive when looking for ore." Destructs nodded quietly, accepting the compromise Revvit had made in his explanation, realizing how difficult supervising the reconstruction of his enemy's arm must have been.

"You are a fine architect Revvit." D-structs said, again uncharacteristically kindly. "I see why…" he paused. He didn't want to bring up Ty's name. Not knowing if the little reptool had placed some kind of trap inside his new arm. "Why he liked you so much." D-structs compromised with finally.

"I miss him" Revvit said bluntly.

"I know" D-structs said quietly as he noticed the other reptools were leaving, now that the job was done. "Believe it or not… I miss Skrap-it as well." he said solemnly. He realized that this was a true statement. He wasn't grandstanding, or trying to invoke sympathy. Both creatures had lost someone close, whose company could never be replaced. As he attempted to apologize, with sincerity to Revvit, he was cut off by the Reptool turning to leave.

"Don't over use that extension function. If you break your arm, we won't fix it for free." Revvit said, not quite coldly as he left. Before D-structs could ask how he would pay, Revvit was gone.

D-structs left later that day with a small bundle of ore wrapped in a cluster of leaves fitted to his chassis like a kind of backpack. He had plans for the crater still, but these would be far less… destructive, at least for the Dinotrux in the village.

A few weeks later Sky's eggs were finally ready to be laid. The village was excited and threw a small party with a "pregnant" Skya at the middle. Her body had been processing ore over time for weeks and weeks to create her eggs, which would come out of her body, and then be placed into a special incubator in the middle of town so that everyone could keep an eye on and follow their progress.

D-structs watched from afar. He had become a kind of trader. He would find exoctic ores and commonly needed and rare parts and bring them back to the community. He never asked for much more than upkeep and enough ore to keep him until his next return trip. He was relaxing, munching on a geode, a hollow rock that contained crystals, that while not exactly nutritious for a trux, were very tasty. He enjoyed to the strange music that had become popular in the village, and there was plenty of it with this "egging festival".

Skya had just finished laying her second egg when something happened, she began to shudder.

"What's wrong Skya?" Revvit asked with concern.

I dunno Revvit, I...I can't produce another egg!" Skya said with rapidly building concern. "I..I'm sure there's more coming, but it's jammed!"

The reptools slide inside her egg canal and push out a damaged but still sealed egg, followed by three more deformed eggs.

"I'm so sorry Skya… but you only have three healthy eggs." Revvit said, crushed that there wasn't to be a full brood of little Ty's rolling around the place. He had been really looking forward to it. However he was glad at least half had been made. Hybrid matings were very rare, and almost never produced viable eggs… but he had commanded the other reptools from telling any of that to Skya. He, they all needed to have hope. And in reality, half was far better than none.

The party ended shortly thereafter. Skya locked herself in the mausoleum holding her 6 eggs, crying for hours, talking to Ty. Begging his forgiveness that she was only able to lay three complete eggs. She stayed in the mausoleum for a week, petting her eggs

After a week Skya finally came out. She refused to place her eggs 'on display like some macabre joke.' Revvit, and everyone else understood, and the incubator display was quietly dismantled one night after Dozer 'accidently' ran into it while driving around with Blayde, who had truly become part of the community.

The damaged eggs were left in the mausoleum with Ty's upright body. They were laid at the tracks of their father.

A month after the eggs had been laid a calamity happened. The raid happened early in the morning. The twilight of the morning was only just starting to warm the cool ground after the night when the sound of a dozen or so tiny tracks could be heard scuttering across the crater.

The scraptor in the lead had a strangely shaped head from the others, it was larger, its eyes more focused, it's scrapping claws were more handlike than the raided the town. They hit every building and even managed to get a few parts from Old George who had once been their "guest" many moons before. It had smelled the new eggs from miles away, and knew the best time to attack was just as the sun rose, knowing his more simple minded brothers normally shut down to sleep as soon as there was no sun to warm them.

He had to have the eggs, They were the most delicious! still incubating trux were soft, and wonderful to eat!

While the other scraptors were busying themselves with attacking the locals, grabbing whatever ore they could steal and the like, the smart one which called itself T-scrap, made for the mausoleum along with two others. When he arrived he found half his quarry, the unfinished eggs. He took a moment to look at them, tilting his head in confusion. Malformed eggs were traditionally just tossed to the side, it was the easiest of food for a scraptor to salvage. But these were in such a place of reverence.

T-scrap didn't dwell on the issue for long. He knew there were at least three more viable eggs, brothers to the dead eggs before him, in the village somewhere. He gestured for his minions to take the dead eggs. T-scrap then went to seek out the still living, growing children of Ty. The ones with the dead eggs were to return directly to scraptor cove.

D-Structs watched from afar with interest. It wasn't until he saw the two scraptors leaving the village with what looked like three damaged eggs that he decided to intervene. He grabbed a stone and tossed it as hard as he could with his new limb into the warning bell. The single clang resounded throughout the village waking up the guards, and several other trux. The defense of home from the scraptors began.

Smiling at himself for his "good deed", D-Structs began to make his way to the scraptor valley. A dangerous place in the daylight, peaceful at night, which is why the pre-dawn raid was so strange to him. The scraptors never rose before first light… ever. They existed on the sunlight as much or more than ore.

Something bothered D-Structs about all this as he made his way, as stealthily as he could to the valley. It was a place well known to him as he would often need to come here with Skrap-it… D-Structs paused. That thought had stung him more than he had expected. He truly missed the obsequious, insane scraptool. For a moment rage and anger welled up in him for his little friend's death. It then rushed away just as fast with grief for killing Ty.

D-Structs missed Skrap-it, and knew no one would ever replace him. He understood more than ever why life was so precious...how fleeting and fragile it was. He also noticed, from his dark alcove, the passing of many scraptors into the valley. "Damn" D-Structs swore to himself. He has been spending too much time alone, and would lose entire hours in thought, just like now. He was only glad no one had seen him.

It was in his moment of self condemnation that D-structs saw 'him'. The smart scraptor. Unlike the others its eyes were clear and focused. It knew what it was doing. It was also holding Two of Ty's still viable eggs. D-structs eyes went wide. Two of Ty's eggs had been stolen! Suddenly he had a mission, a reason beyond morbid curiosity to involve himself in another's affairs.

D-structs followed the 'smart one' a little farther away than he normally would a scraptor. He sensed this one might be able to notice him, and gave him that respect and assumption. He had hoped to grab the eggs and run, but realized quickly that there was far more than an egg snatch and grab going on. This raid had been planned.

Once they were safely inside the valley, the scraptors seemed to gather around a wreck. One that looked familiar to D-structs. A moment later his ore processor churned at the sound of a voice he'd hoped never to hear again.

"Yessss" Splitter said to his loyal minions. "YESSS give me the oils of the children!" he cackled, he spun his blade but only a couple revolutions, as it was dry, and scraped loudly. He was missing his left hind leg-track, and his right fore-track. The scraptors were keeping the insane trux alive for some reason. Then the 'smart one' spoke.

"You will get your precious liquids soon… but after T-scrap has his fill first!". T-scrap said in a dull, high but clear voice. "I am the one who keeps you alive." he added, as he seemed to offer one of the damaged eggs to splitter. "Now.. open this, open it so we may feast on the little one inside!"

Splitter looked angrily at the damaged egg then at the head scraptor. "What do you expect me to…" he then stopped and realized. He frowned and scrunched up his face in what seemed to D-structs to be pain. Grunting Splitter revved up his blade, wincing in pain.

T-Scrap smiled knowing the trux was in terrible pain. He had deliberately grabbed one of the dead eggs, knowing it would have the least liquids, if any. The trux would be ripping himself apart for almost nothing. A moment later the scrapping of metal on metal stopped and the damaged egg was opened. There was a thin, short stream of fluids that came out and spilled onto the trux blade.

Splitter spun his blade and little and began to moan in enjoyment. It wasn't much but it was something, and he relished what little it was. T-scrap slid the dead, semi gelatinous trux onto his clawed hands. It was extremely malformed. In the end it looked more like a Skrap-type reptool than a T-trux crossed with a craneosaur. It's metal body was not yet solid in its egg.

D-structs saw the body of his old friend Skrap-it being slowly lowered into the jaw of the scraptor and his vision went red. The scraptor had taken his first bite, popping the head off in all its juiciness when the enraged T-trux roared and engaged them.

The trux were cleaning up the village after the raid that morning. A search party was still being formed and many trux were around Skya trying to console her. She clutched her one remaining egg to her as if her life would end if she were to let it go. Around her some of the trux were arguing how the scraptors had managed to get past their defenses and traps. They had always worked in the past for deterring or scarring the scraptors off. Another said they came before dawn which was unheard of, especially since many of the traps were based on solar heat to make them work.

"Here" D-structs said, rolling up to Skya, dropping two of the dead, but still intact eggs are her feet. A collective gasp was heard since, again, no one had noticed him rolling up. One of his tracks had been badly damaged, and he had very deep gashes all over his body. He had somehow managed to escape the scraptors after attacking the leader with only a fraction of his left trax still able to roll. D-structs then opened his mouth and gently laid down the two viable eggs that had been stolen.

"You… you don't want what's left of the other one." he said quietly and rolled off. He was halfway to his cave, when he heard "THANK YOU!" screamed in tearful joy by Skya. He smiled and limped the rest of the way home.

That night he was looking at the dead egg that had been cut opened. He had saved half the stillborn truxling, and had placed it in the egg with the damaged top alongside it. He couldn't deliver that to Skya. It would have broken her heart to know one of the stillborn eggs had been cut opened and chewed on. Instead he had it on a shelf. He didn't know what he was going to do with it yet. It was just his instincts that made him take it as well. He smiled knowing that the scraptor would never walk properly again… probably. Scraptors were not known for their magnanimousness.

He sighed, feeling one of the deeper gashes in his thick hide. It was very tender and he had no idea how he would recover this time.

"Let me take a look at that." came Revvit's voice from the dark. D-structs actually jumped. He had been so deep in thought he didn't notice the reptool's presence. Before D-structs could say anything Revvit held up a hand. "I'm here on my own… I just.. Wanted to say thank you."

D-Structs snorted and turned to rest his mouth on a table. He was grateful for the reptool's presence, if not company. However he would not acknowledge it. Neither would, and both were ok with that.

A few hours later Revvit turned to leave. The majority of the damage done by the scraptors repaired. The gashes in D-struct's thick metal hide remained, but Revvit had done something to set it healing. "You didn't have to…" Revvit said quietly.

"Yes I did." D-structs said as the reptool was almost out of the cave. "I may be a monster… but even I can't stand to see innocent children die."

"Thank you." Revvit said as he left, taking the damaged egg with him. The next day it found its way back to the mausoleum with its brothers, sealed in such a way only those who knew could tell it had ever been opened.

Some days later D-structs was paid a visit by his former lieutenant, Blayde. The first to have left him after the madness of Splitter. When D-structs turned to look at Blayde he was stunned into silence. She was pink with lavender highlights. He bit back his first few insults. After a full minute he finally said "That… looks good on you."

"I'm taking Dozer as my mate." She said formally, as if asking her father for permission. The older trux nodded. It made sense to him. They were the same species, and Blayde could do far worse than that one as a mate.

"Alright...But why tell me?" D-structs asked after a moment.

"Because I think it's time we found pounder and brought him into the fold." Blayde said simply. "We have outlived ourselves, bullying other lesser trux." She said with acceptance. "We can no longer live as we once did, and… let's be honest." She said with a sigh. "Pounder isn't the smartest, and may have gotten himself killed without us to guide him." She said and they both laughed at this accepted truth.

"Also…" she began "You should call the toretools to change your color pattern…" she said tentatively. She knew joining the builders was still a very sore subject for the older trux. Instead of the violent backlash she was expecting D-structs stroked his jaw with his reconstructed hand. Then stopped and looked at at his new hand. He nodded slightly in contemplation.

"Let's find Pounder, and put the past behind us and embrace the future." D-structs said after a time. They then set out to locate some toretools so that he could get a new paint job.


	3. Cruelty of the Elders

Time heals all wounds. Even the mechanical heart can heal with enough time, even as it's metallic body rusts away to nothing by that same healing force.

D-structs was looking over at the village. He was still reticent to live any closer. He still felt tremendous guilt over what he had been responsible for. That had been only 8 moons… months ago. D-structs shook his head trying to understand this "date and time" system that Revvit was working on to help count the time. He personally saw little need for it. It made the little reptool happy, and he kept D-Structs in working order, so he humored the little one. He found he was growing quite fond of him… and the rest of the village. D-structs had long shed his colors for a more soothing dark blue.

There was a strange sense in the air today however, which is what brought D-structs out. He had been pondering changing his name. He no longer wanted to destroy the buildings and the village...and that's when it had hit him like a collapsing mountain. He was positive he had heard his older brother D-Stroy nearby in the night!

His brother had a strange 'ting-ting-ting' in his engine that he'd acquired on one of their ore-hunting adventures. D-structs smiled a little. 'How ironic. I left my brother because I didn't want to work with another trux and here I am… living among just that sort!' he thought with a dismissive laugh.

If his brother was in the area that was likely a sign that they were all in for trouble soon. His brother loved to cause mayhem, even more than D-structs himself did… once. But he understood better now. He knew that it was better to work with the other trux to make life better for everyone, not just himself.

D-structs, one of the reptools suggested DS, wondered if it was possible to change his brother's mind but with much less oil spilled. He doubted it.

DS decided to take a familiar path to a source of very delicious ore to trade to the village. It was, of course, a very dangerous valley where the ore was found, which is why none but the strongest would even dare visit there.

DS's thoughts were distracted by his guilt over killing Ty. He had finally come to truly understand what it was Ty wanted to build. He truly began to understand the value of other trux's existence beside creatures to lord over or eat… though the odd wild reptool was still very delicious.

As he approached the valley, DS was sure he heard a familiar *ting ting ting*. He looked around just in time to barely avoid his brother's tail to his face.

"A sneak attack brother?" DS said, dripping with cold disappointment. "I thought you said you hated attacks like that? That it was the move of a COWARD!" He was infuriated that his brother would do such a thing.

"Please brother" D-stroy responded "I had to make sure you were still my little brother… congratulations, you passed" he finished with disdain. "Now I can bet some sense into you, knowing you aren't a complete lost cause!" He hated how his brother had come to not only accept but embrace the 'civilized' life.

"How can you throw away your pride and live around FOOD!?" D-stroy roared, as he spun hard, throwing his tail to smash into DS' face again. But he missed, smashing into the wall of the valley. "We are meant to Lord over them, not coexist with them. That is something only the weak do!" Next he whipped his tail down, smashing the ground where DS was. He moved quickly.

"I have learned much from these "food sources" as you call them brother." DS finally replied with disdain. He wasn't sure if he was more angry with his brother… or with himself for once believing exactly as D-stroy did. That others were just a means to an end, and never to be trusted or cared about. "They have made me a better trux!" he roared and he sent his prosthetic hand shooting through the air to punch his brother in the face, stunning him.

DS then, pulled back, his hand on a chain, reeling it back in to his arm. "After I lost my arm fighting a better trux than you, I was given this new one" he said, flexing his fingers. "I have learned many things, like how to move faster than you!"

With that DS engaged his supercharger, and sped behind his brother faster than could be seen. Spinning himself, DS smashed his tail into his brother's face, smashing one of D-stroy's light-eyes to pieces.

"You ever come near the village" DS said, his eyes glowing with blue energy "And I'll finish the job!" With that he turned, grabbed some of the ore that was exposed in the combat and left, believing this complete humiliation would be the last DS ever saw of his brother.

Some time later DS was in the village, looking for a place to live. He had not heard any rumors of his big brother since the drummeling that DS had given him, so he was finally able to truly relax and enjoy his life.

"Dee" a soft lilting voice swam into DS's ears. It was his mate, a rose color T-trux. She was the reason why he was moving into the village finally.

"Yes my darling?" DS said, slowly turning to look to his mate. However instead of her usual look of love he saw concern on her face. She was pointing to something behind him. Something D-structs had missed since he had let his guard down, and begun to enjoy his life. It was smoke.

As he looked up, he also heard a familiar sound that made his soul run cold as ice. *ting ting ting*

"No…" D-structs, the former warlord and destroyer of peace said in a horrified whisper. "It's not possible, I … I destroyed him."

"Not nearly enough… dear brother" He heard behind him as his brother, one eye-light blazing red exited the shadows. "You should know never to leave your opponent alive." He continued, flanked by several scraptors that the elder had seemed to have 'tamed'.

After a moment the sounds around them started to filter into DS' ears. The chaos, the screams, the destruction. The revenge of his cruel elder brother had wrought.

"You took my eye brother" D-stroy said coldly, barely managing to hold back his white hot rage and anger at his brother's betrayal. "We could have ruled this place together" He said, inching closer to his little brother, causing D-structs to roll backwards, holding his mate's claw. "But at least you haven't tainted the good name of T-trux…" D-stroy said eying the female cruelly. "You have taken a very attractive mate… thank you."

DS and Rose looked at each other and nodded. Then the looked at the crowd of scraptors that were approaching them. The whine of their superchargers whined to life and their eyes glowed blue. They were not helpless, and Rose was one of the head members of the town defense.

They destroyed the scraptors with little effort, leaving only parts and oil on the ground. DS then looked at his brother as Rose sped off to help elsewhere in the town. "Do you think I would take a mate that was not at least my equal?" he asked his brother his claws balled into fists.

D-stroy smiled, preparing for the melee with his little brother, having learned from last time. He had the route planned out their fight would go, and he could handle a few blows from his little brother.

D-stroy then activated his own supercharger. "Oh brother, I would expect nothing less from even a _domesticated _you." And the fight began.

Elsewhere Skya assembled the guard. The outskirts of the town were either rubble or burning, but the center of town, the square and the Ty's Mausoleum was intact.

"Hey Skya" A familiar female voice came from the front line. It was Blayde, the mate of Dozer and once enemy. "Did you ever think we'd be here.. Like this?" She asked bemusedly.

Skya could only smile and shake her head atop her long neck. "No I never could before recently think of us fighting together…not just neighbors, but friends." The two females smiled at one another before turning toward the oncoming scraptor horde. They would kill to defend not just their home, but their children.

The children were in the mausoleum, guarded by Ty… and the reptools. It was thought to be the safest place in the entire village. And it was, until one wall was smashed by a blue D-structs being thrown through it.

"Thank you brother, for opening the way for me" D-stroy said with a cruel grin on his one-eye'd face. "You were predictable as always, and I guided our fight here" said the master tactician.

'He may be insane' D-structs said to himself, shaking off the dizziness from being tossed through a wall. His supercharger dying. 'But I keep forgetting he is a master of tactics… damn'

Looking over at the body of Ty, ignoring the small children scurrying about, D-stroy made a gesture with his left hand and whistled. Then, all sound seem to leave the world to D-structs as he saw his former executioner Splitter trundle in.

Splitter was covered in gore and fluids. It was clear there were many casualties this night, and DS hoped none of them were close friends… or Rose. Splitter had that same insane look on his face that he'd had the night he sliced into Ty. And it was clear what was going to happen. D-stroy was here to destroy the body of Ty.

"I will let our insane friend here finish the job he started so many months ago, and finally this little experiment you have here will be finished. No Ty, NO VILLAGE!" he roared.

Then out of nowhere a brick flew into D-stroy's left, blinded, eye. *tink*

Then another and another *tink, tink, think, THUNK, CASH!*

The children were throwing everything they could find on the ground at the monster trux. At first small stones, then larger and larger rocks. The first stones had been thrown by the children of Ty and Skya. Then the rest joined in. They didn't understand what was going on, other than this 'big meanie' wanted to hurt everyone they cared about, that that could not be allowed.

Seeing this DS could not stop himself from laughing at his brother's inability to understand what was happening. "Brother" DS began, getting to his treads. "You really don't understand do you?" He continued stalling for time, as he felt Revvit sliding inside him to replace his supercharger. He had noticed all the reptools were doing similar with the other adults in the area.

"You cannot destroy an idea!" DS continued, raising his arms to signify encompassing the entire village. "You can destroy here all you want, you can destroy Ty… but you cannot destroy the _**idea **_he began." D-stroy saw adults beginning to come in closer, the bodies and parts of his scraptor army lying everywhere in ruins.

"We live here because we chose to! We choose to live in peace and work together!" He continued, engines around revving up in agreement. "You would have to kill us all" D-structs said menacingly his eyes beginning to glow blue, having activated his new supercharger.

"Challenge accepted" D-stroy said, grabbing the tail of Splitter, using the last of his supercharger, to spin himself and splitter around with great speed before tossing Splitter, spinning blade first, towards the body ot Ty.

"yesYesYEsYYYEESSSS" Splitter screamed as he saw himself flying towards the body of Ty. He knew there were no fluids, but he had always felt unsatisfied by leaving the T-trux in one piece. This would be fixed. He would cut Ty in half now.

As he was about to slice into Ty, the impossible happened. Splitter was slammed into from below, sending him flying upwards into the ceiling, his blade bent, never to slice again.

Skya clad in her old armor, blue shining around her from her supercharger, had managed to get inside in time to stop splitter. She knew the maneuver was a risky. If she had been even a moment too early her head could have been sliced clean off her neck, or too late and Ty…

Skya stood proudly before her mate's body glaring down upon any who would come near. The scraptors who had gotten into the mausoleum, began to back away in fear. Splitter's damaged and unconscious body fell on one, splattering the area with it's fluids. Gruesome as it was, it amused Skya that Splitter was unconscious and couldn't enjoy the gore he loved so much.

DS slammed one great wreckingball tail up across his brother's chest, leaving a great gash, exposing his innards, up to his jaw, displacing and severely damaging it, sending D-stroy, the strongest of the T-trux in any valley, flying up and out of the holes in the mausoleum and into the square where he slammed uselessly onto the ground. His tail snapped off by the landing his treads damaged and one of his arms, ripped off in the melee. D-stroy was finished.

Rose trundled up to be beside the former Tyrant T-trux D-structs and together they looked at the body of D-stroy and roared, their horns blaring.

The remaining scraptors looked at each other, then the body of D-stroy, who was starting to regain consciousness and came to a consensus. They swarmed D-stroy's and carried him off. It was clear they meant to feed on him.

The village stood there for several minutes watching the retreating scraptors, carrying off D-stroy's damaged body. His screams eventually died. It was unclear if it was due to distance or death… and no one cared which at this time.

A great roar went up as the survivors of the great raid, as it would become known, cheered their victory.


	4. Redemption

"Tell us about dad" Jennine asked. Skya gave her an odd name to help her be distinct. And she was. It had been nearly 15 of what Revvit was calling years since they were born and all the excitement in the city, well it was more of a village then, happened. Everyone agreed that it was best to adjust the true history of Ty's death. Too many of their once foes now lived in the city of Tyson.

More than anything Tyson was the child of Ty… his son. So that is what they named it. In the years since, life in the crater was relatively quiet. Enough that bands of Trux would get together and leave to form their own multi-trux communities. Some made communities of mostly their own kind, the old bigotries still surviving by a shock arachnid's thread.

They were all wished well when they left and offered open welcome if they choose to return or begin trade. Some survived, some were never heard from again… but that was life.

"Your father" Skya began, a sad smile on her mouth. "He was the most amazing trux" she began as she always did. Jennie most resembled Ty, she was a T-trux but had a long neck, and oddly longer arms than most T-trux should. She had her mother's colors and could actually touch her claws together.

Her sister, Dryanne, took after Skya. She most resembled Skya but with Ty's color pattern and a jaw that more resembled a T-trux. They were both mischievous like their parents and very clever like their mother. They had the benefit of Revvit's knowledge as their teacher and DS as their self defense instructor.

The older, wiser, and now much kinder T-trux felt it was important for all trux of the city, especially the families of the founders, to know how to fight and defend themselves. After all you could never know if a stray scraptor would come into the city or what have you. More than that, DS was never completely sure about his brother's fate.

When he last saw D-stroy he was being carried away by a throng of disillusioned Scrapters led by one very intelligent scrapter. And there was the small matter of the first prisoner. No one ever talked about it. They all accepted their shame and kept him alive. Murder for the sake of "justice" was not the way of the new civilization.

And it was this last connection to the past, that the founding adults all feared, and like all buried secrets, it was soon to be brought into the light, for secrets never die. They simply wait in the dark, planning, plotting, and waiting.

The girls had been recently inducted into the city guard. The founders felt it was important that the girls understand what dangers lie outside the city, and why they should always be careful. Since the city was at peace it was very dull, and boring duty… like the founders wanted.

One day the trux that normally took ore down to prisoner 1 was ill. So the senior officer decided it was safe enough duty to send the girls. It would show them how they dealt with trux that could not be trusted to go back into the wild and leave the city alone - expulsion was the usual punishment for serious crimes. However there were those whose crimes and grudges were so great they daren't send them away, so they were imprisoned.

The prison only held a handful of inmates. It was a hole dug deep into the ground, it was the original Ore seam that fed the village when it was just the original founders. It had long since gone dry, so it was converted into a prison. The thought was, the prisoners would be able to dig for whatever scraps of ore were left should the opening be closed off.

Prisoner 1 was at the very bottom behind several doors that carried the crest of Ty standing in defense of his trux and his City. "dad…"Jennine said, resting a claw lightly on the carving of her father's likeness into the stone door. "I wish we could have known you dad…" she said quietly, her sister, solemnly nodding beside her, holding the large piece of ore that was to feed the most serious of all prisoners for a week or two.

"Do you know who 'Prisoner 1' is Jin?" Anne asked her sister as they passed the last guard station. THey were surprised to see the daughters of the great Ty and Skya, but assumed if they were down here, it was supposed to happen. It wasn't.

They were directed down a long corridor which had a couple cells, but no trux inside them. It seems they were prepared for the possibility for more like this one, that thankfully never came. They began to hear it. *clang*... *clang* ... *clang*. The sound of three slow beats a long pause then three more haunted them. It became louder and louder as they approached their final destination at the end of the hall.

And then they saw him. Prisoner 1.

"YOU SENT THEM WHERE!?" DS Roared so loudly his horns blared. His claws, real and artificial, were balled into fists. He was shaking with so much rage his engine was revving at dangerous RPMs. He slowly rolled forward, glaring at the guard commander, a Ankylodump, who had sent the daughters of Ty into the prison and down to prisoner 1. "WHY?!" He blared even louder, his eyes glowing brightly like small suns for a moment, when his mate put a claw on his left shoulder to calm him down.

The one once known as D-structs calmed down as he looked at his loving mate, who while smiling at him, pulled him back, so that she could get close enough to the Ankylodump and slapped him across the face. "What the hell were you thinking!" She asked in only a raised tone that somehow scared the trux more than her mate's roaring. The smell of leaked oil permeated the room, as it damped the floor..

"I.. I.. um… I uh" Dumpy, as he was known, stammered. "I thought it would be good for the girls to see the pri-" but he was cut off by DS moving in past his mate. He ever so gently nudged her aside and he put his scarred countenance before that of the rapidly leaking trux's face.

Dumpy then sighed, accepting total loss of his fluids and dignity. He turned away and looked down in disgrace. "I thought they should see what we do with our prisoners." he said softly, defeated, knowing his career was likely over if not his life in the city. "Sir… they're of age now." he added, accepting he was finished, but determined to prove his point. "They have a right to know what we do with the lawbreakers!"

DS snorted steam, releasing some of his anger in physical form. Literally blowing off steam. "Having them take ore to prisoners is fine" He said trying to calm down. His mate had already sped off, her tail slamming into the face of Dumpy as she turned around to zoom off to Skya. "But not THAT one!"

DS then turned to leave. "I will talk to Skya about what to do with you." he said. Dumpy was overall a good trux, and even if he had a point, this was the end of his command path. But he would not be exiled. This was an inconvenience, more than a real threat to the city. But Dumpy didn't need to know that. He could stew in his own literal juices.

He would head to the prison and hope that all that happened was the girls learn the truth… and nothing more. Splitter was insane, and the thought that the daughters of the trux he killed just rolling into his chambers scared DS.

"And that…" the aged splitter said, "is how your father truly died." he finished with a heavy sigh, a look of deep sorrow and regret on his face. "If only D-structs hadn't pushed him down and held him on my blade." he finished with a sad sigh. "Maybe I could have shaken your father off and saved his life."

"You.. you mean…" Anne began, shaking her long neck and head in disbelief.

"Th..th..that can't be true!" Jin daid, her claws around her mouth, unable to drink in all that was just told to her. "You mean uncle DS…" she began but paused.

There was a noise like old metal plates scraping together as Splitter laughed. "Oh DS is it?" he asked in derision. "Did he change his name? Too ashamed with what he did? Not trux enough…" he began but coughed hard then returned to his act of a betrayed, hurt old trux.

"I don't have much time left my sweet girls" he began again. "I.. I am not long for the world much longer." he said coughing again, his blade slowly turning, screaming. The girls noticed it was slightly bent. Probably from when he was beat up by D-structs in their last fight. The one where he pretended to everyone that he alone had defeated the great murderer of Ty. That he was sentenced to the deepest pit in the crater without his side ever being heard. He was just dumped down here, alone, to rust away forgotten.

The girls saw that his limbs were in a corner of the room, clearly there to prevent the old trux from escape. They silently looked at each other and agreed to place them back on the old trux.

A few minutes later the old bladed trux was back on his tracks and they escorted him out of the prison, into the warm light of day, Splitter felt he might never experience again.

Skyla and Blayde were enjoying themselves at the tuneup spa, resting in hot oil baths. "Hey Skya" Blayde asked the large female. "Did you ever think we'd be like this?" she asked, voicing something that she had wondered a thousand times but rarely felt confident enough to speak.

"How do you mean?" Skya asked, he eyes closed, her long neck being buffed by some spa trained reptools. "We are always at the spa once a month, for years…" then it hit her. And she shook her head a little. "No…"

"Domestic life changes you" Blayde said, and they both laughed a little. "But.. so does having friends." She said warmly looking at Skya. "who knew we'd become such close friends, considering… that night." she said, going quiet. The mood darked as clouds passed before the sun.

"Yeah…" Skya said. Remembering that night. The night Blayde released her, apologizing, and tried to stop Splitter. "But… you were never really… that bad… were you?" she asked after a tenuous moment. The clods starting to pass, some light breaking through.

No I just.. I only ever wanted what was best but that night…" she said worried this conversation was a mistake.

They never found out if it was because the mate of DS rolled in as if on fire.

"Skya!" she said in a hurry "That idiot Dumpy sent the girls in to the prison to feed prisoners!" She exclaimed.

Skya looked at her with one eye open, the clouds darkening, draining almost all light from the sky. "What do you mean? They're a part of the guard aren't they?" then, looking at the worried female T-trux expression as she shook her head it dawned on her.

Skya stood straight up, the poor buffer reptools falling into the oil with a *eeeeee* then *plunk* as they entered the hot oil. "WHAT?!"

The pink T-trux nodded. "They were sent down to feed prisoner … one." she said finally.

"Prisoner one?" Blayde asked, then remembered WHO prisoner 1 was. They all looked up as they saw a furious, and very worried DS roar by at top speed towards the prison, hoping he wasn't too late.

He took a moment, closed his eyes, feeling the heat. He let out a sigh, as he began to spin up his repaired blade. He had been working on hammering out the dent for year now. He had tested it just when the girls were approaching him. However now, it was time to give it a proper spinning.

It was as soon as he opened his eyes he smiled at what he saw. The prison was on a pilon separated from the city by a wide, gorge on all sides of at least 4 trux wide. He saw there, on the opposite side his old boss.. Dstructs. He looked directly at DS and smiled, insanity returning to his eyes, tossing away the appearance of a weak, harmless, contrite old trux. He nodded at D-structs and moved faster than he had a right to.

He slapped Dryanne off the ledge with his tail, striking her in her eyes, smashing one of them, and causing her to fall the hundreds of feet to her death. He then spun up his blade to full speed. It screeched as metal scraped on metal until his blade found it's rhythm and hummed.

He was beside Jeninne, angled so his spinning blade was inches from her neck. "Like what you see D-structs? HmmMMM?" He taunted the trapped T-trux on the other side of the gap. "I have been waiting these so many years for my revenge and it just rolls right into my prison cell. I tell them a sad sad story… and well here we are!" He then let out a laugh of purest, cruelest insanity.

"This one looks so much like him, doesn't she?" he said of Jen. the blade getting closer, the girl paralyzed in abject terror for her life. Her eyes were bright and focused on the spinning, humming blade. "I will feed once again on the fluids… OF A TY!" and with that he jumped up, and cut through Jennine's throat as easily as if it was sandstone.

Jennine's fluids burst forth and covered Splitter as he moaned in rapturous enjoyment. She barely gargled as she died. He then leaned back and sliced her body open, and rolled around in her fluids, as D-structs could only watch with horror.

When he had somehow absorbed all her fluids into him he felt rejuvenated. He then stood up on ever growing legs. He became bipedal. His fore tracks became arms, then fists. His blade was now in the middle of his chest. "I HAVE TRANSFORMED!" He said in triumph. I am greater than…" the old trux chuckled to himself imagining how it should all be going down, rather than the reality. He was a trux stuck in his own mind, and destroyed body.

The girls stared at the barely moving body. His limbs removed. He was just a stump. The odd reptools crawled over him, checking his vitals and fluid levels. One saw them with the ore and came over "Thank you, it's been awhile since his last feeding. He isn't very troublesome" the feminine voice came from the small power drill, she was clearly one of Revvit's type.

"He doesn't really cause trouble. He just bangs his bent blade against the walls sometimes." she said, looking over at Splitter almost affectionately. "He's totally harmless now, but we had to remove his limbs years ago because he was… violent." she explained, shivers reminding her of when he would go berzerk for no clear reason.

"We feed him his ore, and he eats it right enough.,.. But he's been in that state ever since the big battle oh.. About fift..een… years… a… oh…" it finally dawned on her who she was speaking to.

"Why didn't dad… ANYONE tell us?" Jen asked, hysteria and horror beginning to well up in her. She had always known there were things the adults never told them but… a major battle? It would have made them a year or so old! Why didn't they remember any of it?

"We didn't want to disturb you…" DS' warm voice came behind them. He had managed to keep his 'annoying gift' for stealth. He had just arrived a little after the girls had. He decided to roll up quietly, and see their reactions. He wasn't surprised. "He used to work for me you know" he said casually looking at his once loyal lieutenant… before the death of Ty changed everything.

"But.. why?" Jen asked again, both girls looking towards the former T-trux known as D-structs. "Why don't we remember anything uncle DS?" She asked imploringly.

"Because the incident was so traumatic, you had suppressed it from your mind." he said, repeating what Revvit had diagnosed so many years ago.

"It seems they just decided yesterday never happened." Revvit told a much younger group of the founders, including DS and his old, reformed, gang. "It was all too much, so their minds seem to have just… forgotten it." the brilliant reptool told them all. "Should we try to tell them?" he asked after a minute of everyone looking around unsure what to do.

"No" DS said. "Let them forget. Let them only know what we all tell them." He said to the group. And they all nodded. The girls would have one less trauma to live with from that day on. The word had spread to the other trux in the village that the events of that day would never be told to the children of Ty.

"And somehow we managed to keep him… and that day a secret." DS finished. "Please.. Come with me, and I promise to tell you everything." He said, turning back the way he had just come. "Thank you Tweeker" he said to the Reptool, who returned to her duties caring for the comatose trux. He ate his ore, living in his little world, where he had finally tasted the fluids of the young, naive children of TY. Where he became something… more.

As they rolled up and out of the small prison complex DS began to explain how TY had died. How it was been Splitter who had killed their father. How it had been an accident DS thought, never knowing that his lieutenant was a psychopath.

He talked about his brother, and the night they couldn't remember and when they finally entered the light, it felt to DS as though a great burdon had been lifted from him. He had always meant to tell the girls, but the time never seemed right. He stopped as they were about to leave the prison and said "In a way, I am responsible for the Death of Ty." He said solumnly to Ty's daughters. "And for that, I …" but he was interrupted as both girls placed their heads on his shoulders.

"Uncle DS… we understand." Jen said, tears streaming. "But we have only known you how you are now…" she faltered.

"And we love you" Anne finished, as sobs began to take the girls' voices.

Healing takes time, and the girls grew up so fast that DS never even realized it. After they returned to their mother's home, Jen turned to her uncle and asked, "Are you ever going to have kids?" DS stopped, and smiled, and held his piece for a little longer. It was, after all, his mate's right to tell first.

Some year later DS looking up at the immobile body of Ty, his once enemy. "That is what happened, and how the great founder of DinoTrux City died." He said looking down at his beloved son next to him, eyes wide. His colors eerily like those of the dead founder.

"Wow…" the small voice said, before he began jumping in excitement. "Tell me again!" he asked. So The T-trux once known as D-structs did. Over and over.

"And so…" a much older Skya completed the 30th anniversary of the attack on Truxtopia, "Here we are today! A strong and powerful City where all Trux can live and work together in peace and" *SMASH*

There was a crash of, thankfully unimportant, sculptures knocked over by a pair of small T-trux, who had been rough housing while the adults did all the boring speak.

"TYPHUS!" Jen roared at her son, the spitting image of the founder, her father.

"REX!" Ty, the son of DS roared at his younger brother. "You two can play later! BEHAVE!" He growled at both guilty youngsters. Ty looked at his father with frustration and a plea for help. DS could only smile at his son. He was studying to be an engineer, taught by the skilled and respected professor Revvit.

Skya could only smile, a tiny tear of clear oil leaving an eye. "As I was saying" She continued, looking back into the crowd of the hundreds of different types of trux before her. "Life continues, and it's how my mate… our founder Ty would have wanted it."

With that she pulled on a rope, unveiling a giant stone slab with plans for a new city.

"Well… what are we waiting for?" DS said, rolling onto the stage beside Skya. "Lets TRUX it up!" he roared, holding up his false hand.

There was stone silence. DS had never said that before. And as DS began to show embarrassment, the crowd roared with approging laughter and some clapping and whistling and blaring horns. At last DS was truly one of them.


End file.
